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Today in Rock History – November 20

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1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock were at number one on the singles chart with “Incense And Peppermints.”

1967,  The Beach Boys release the Smiley Smile, the follow-up to Pet Sounds. This avant-garde album  fails was not warmly received by critics, and failed to chart, despite boasting the singles “Heroes and Villains” and “Good Vibrations.” It has subsequently achieved much more respect over time.

1968, Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites are approached by Albert Grossman to help the newly solo Janis Joplin put together her own band.

1968, The Monkees film Head opened in six cities. Reviews were harsh and the picture was a box office disaster.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Boston Tea Party, Boston.

1970, Pink Floyd made their first ever appearance in Cincinnati, Ohio, when they played at Taft Auditorium.

1970, Derek and the Dominoes performed at the Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California.

1971, Isaac Hayes started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Theme From Shaft” Hayes won a Grammy award for Best Original Film Score.

1971, Led Zeppelin play the first of two “Electric Magic” shows at London’s Wembley Empire Pool. The shows incorporate trapeze artists, performing pigs, and vaudeville performers with Bronco, Stone the Crows, and the headliners. Tickets for the shows sold out in four minutes.

1971, The Grateful Dead played at Pauley Pavillion, on the UCLA campus, in Westwood, California.

1971, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy, released at the end of October, hits the US charts. The album, considered by many to be the best-ever Who compilation, is released just as The Who cross over the five-year mark during which five percent of The Who’s record royalties had to be paid to their first producer Shel Talmy as a result of his 1966 lawsuit. Many of the singles, so familiar to The Who’s British and European fans, are heard first here by most U.S. Who fans. The album peaks at number eleven.

1971, The Who open their second 1971 the tour at the Charlotte Coliseum, in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are the first rock act to sell out this venue. Keith greets the crowd, “It’s nice to see so many people in Charlotte. I didn’t know there WAS this many people in Charlotte!” The pre-recorded tapes mess up and Pete almost drags Bobby Pridden over the amplifiers.

1972, David Bowie appeared at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1972, Yes played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1973, American musician, parodist, satirist Allan Sherman died of emphysema ten days before his 49th birthday. He had the 1963 US number two and UK number 14 single “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.”

1973, Neil Young played at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago.

1974, Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, collapsed during a concert after his drink was spiked with horse tranquilizer. 19 year-old Scott Halpin who was in the audience, volunteered to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers.

1975, Les McKeown of The Bay City Rollers was found not guilty of causing the death of a 76 year old woman that he had hit with his car the previous May. Witnesses said that Euphemia Clunie was walking across the road and had changed directions four times. McKeown was convicted of driving recklessly and fined £150 ($240) and banned from driving for a year.

1975, The Who kicked off a month-long North American tour at The Summit in Houston. At a party afterwards drummer Keith Moon was arrested for disorderly conduct and spent the night in jail.

1976, Paul Simon hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live where he performed live with George Harrison on “Here Comes The Sun” and “Homeward Bound.” Paul McCartney and John Lennon were both in New York City watching the show on TV.

1977, Aerosmith performed at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1978, Boston played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Rush performed at the Tucson Convention Center Arena, Tucson, Arizona.

1979, ZZ Top appeared at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

1980, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois.

1981, Prince played the first night on his 56-date North American Controversy tour at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1982, Van Halen appeared at the Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas.

1984, A large crowd of fans watched the unveiling of a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star for Michael Jackson in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson became star number 1,793 on the famed walk.

1985, The Grateful Dead performed at Henry J. Kiser Convention Center in Oakland, California.

1991, The Rolling Stones announced they’d signed a £20 ($32) million deal with Virgin Records, to make three albums over six years.

2005, Robbie Williams smashed a Guinness World Record by selling more than 1.6 million tickets for his 2006 World Tour in one day. The tickets, snapped up on the first day of sale, were valued at an estimated £80 ($128) million.

2007, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke admitted he was among the thousands of people who paid nothing to download the band’s latest album In Rainbows. Speaking to BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Yorke said, “There wasn’t any point. I just move some money from one pocket to the other.” According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all for it. Yorke added that no one was allowed to have copies of the master recording in case it was leaked beforehand.

Born on November 20: Norman Greenbaum (1942); Duane Allman (1946);  Joe Walsh (1947); Jim Brown, drums, UB40 (1957); Mike Diamond, The Beastie Boys (1965); Jared Followill, bassist, Kings Of Leon (1986)

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Here’s some classic Duane Allman…

 

Today in Rock History – September 11

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1967, Filming began for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. There was no script, nor a very clear idea of exactly what was to be accomplished, not even a clear direction about where the bus was supposed to go. The “Magical Mystery Tour” bus set off for the West Country in England stopping for the night in Teignmouth, Devon were hundreds of fans greeted The Beatles at their hotel.

1967, Pink Floyd performed the first of three nights at the Starclub in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also on the bill were The Beefeaters, Peter Belli & B. Brothers, Steppeulvene, The Clan, Hitmakers, and others.

1967, During a 10-date tour of Sweden, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played two shows at the Grona Lund in Stockholm.

1968, Bassist from Sly and the Family Stone, Larry Graham was busted for cannabis possession as the band arrived in London to start a UK tour.

1970, The Rolling Stones played at the Forum Copenhagen in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

1970, The Amboy Dukes appeared at Uptown Palladium 12 Theatre‎ in Birmingham, Michigan.

1971, Donny Osmond started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Go Away Little Girl.” The singer’s only solo chart topper. The song had also been a chart topper for Steve Lawrence in 1963.

1971, Who’s Next by The Who hits its peak on the Billboard charts at the number four position.

1971, The animated Jackson Five series premiered on ABC-TV.

1972, Hawkwind performed at Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany.

1973, The Rolling Stones appeared at Kings Hall (Belle Vue), Manchester, England.

1974, The Grateful Dead played at Alexandra Palace, London.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Capital Centre, Landover.

1976, KC and the Sunshine Band went to the top of the singles charts with (“Shake Shake Shake), Shake Your Body,” the group’s third number one.

1977, David Bowie recorded a guest appearance on Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas TV show duetting with Crosby on “Peace On Earth – Little Drummer Boy.” The track became a UK No.3 hit five years later in 1982.

1978, Aerosmith played at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California.

1979, Van Halen appeared at Furitsu Taiiku Kan, Osaka, Japan.

1981, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois.

1982, Chicago started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Hard To Say I’m Sorry,” the group’s second chart topper.

1982, John “Cougar” Mellencamp became the only male artist to have two singles in the Top Ten as well as the number one album. “Jack and Diane” was at number four, while “Hurts So Good” held the eighth spot. His album American Fool was at number one for the first of nine weeks.

1987, Founding member of The Wailers, Peter Tosh was shot dead at his home in Kingston Jamaica by armed robbers.

1987, Peter Gabriel cleaned up at the MTV Awards, winning best video, best male video, best concept video, best special effects, and five other awards for the track “Sledgehammer.”

1988, Michael Jackson appeared at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England on his Bad world tour. Over 3,000 fans were treated by the St. John Ambulance service for passing out, hysteria, and being crushed among the crowd of 125,000 fans, the largest concert of the 123-date world tour.

1988, Metallica kicked off their 222-date Damaged Justice world tour at the MTK Football Stadium in Budapest, Hungary.

1996, Noel Gallagher walked out on the rest of Oasis half way through an American tour after a fight with his brother Liam in a hotel in Charlotte North Carolina. Noel flew back to London the following day.

2001, Walking to work in New York, as an comic book illustrator, Gerard Way witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The day’s events inspired him to start a band, which became My Chemical Romance, with Way becoming their lead singer.

2003, Tommy Chong, one-half of the comedy team of Cheech and Chong, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison and fined $20,000 for selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet. The 65 year-old Chong pled guilty to the charges in May. He remained free until April, 2004, when he went to jail.

2004, American lyricist Fred Ebb died of a heart attack at his home in New York City. Co-wrote, “New York, New York” and “Chicago,” and worked with Liza Minnelli.

2014, American songwriter, singer, manager, and record producer Bob Crewe died aged 83. Crewe wrote a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons, including “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “Rag Doll.” He also had hit recordings with Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow and others.

Born on September 11: Bernie Dwyer, Freddie and the Dreamers (1940); Mickey Hart, Grateful Dead (1943) Tommy Shaw, Styx (1953); Mick Talbot, keyboards, Style Council (1958); Moby, (Richard Hall), producer, vocalist (1965);  Harry Connick, Jr. (1967); Richard Ashcroft, guitar, vocals, The Verve (1971); and Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris (1977)

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Today in Rock History – September 8

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The-Who-1966-B1966, The Who appeared at the Locarno Ballroon in Stevenage, England. This UK tour was notable for the addition of the single, “I’m A Boy” to the band’s repertoire.

1968, Pink Floyd were forced to cancel a performance at the Chatelet Teenage Festival in Belgium due to work permit problems.  There were some violent reactions from the fans, but the several other bands, including The Kinks were able to play at the event.

1968, The Beatles performed “Hey Jude” on the UK television show Frost On Sunday in front of an invited audience.

1968, Led Zeppelin played three shows in Denmark on this day, first appearing at the Fjordvilla club in Roskilde with The Ladybirds, who were an all girl topless go-go dancing outfit. Next, the played at Raventlowparken in Lolland, supported by The Beatnicks and to cap it off, they finished the evening at Teaterbygningen in Køge.

1968, Jimi Hendrix played at the Spokane Coliseum in Spokane, Washington.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at the Municipal Auditorium, Austin, Texas.

1973, During a UK tour The Rolling Stones appeared at Empire Pool, Wembley, London.

1973, Marvin Gaye started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Let’s Get It On,” his second chart topper.

1973, The Allman Brothers started a five week run at number one on the album chart with Brothers And Sisters, the group’s only US chart topping album.

1974, David Bowie appeared at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

1974, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Beach Boys all performed at Summersault ’74 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

1977, Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch left Wings to help re-form The Small Faces. McCulloch had played with Paul McCartney’s band on the Venus and Mars and Wings At the Speed of Sound albums, as well as on the Wings Over America tour. He died two years later at the age of 26. Drummer Joe English also left Wings at this time, joining Sea Level.

1978, Dave Edmunds realeased Trax on Wax 4, his fourth solo album. It was released on Zeppelin’s Swansong label and featured the excellent “Trouble Boys,” which Thin Lizzy would cover in 1981.

1978, David Bowie released Stage, his second (official) live album recorded during his “Berlin” period. Backed by some talented players of note. Carlos Alomar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, George Murray, bass, backing vocals, Dennis Davis, drums, percussion, Adrian Belew, lead guitar, backing vocals, Simon House, violin, Sean Mayes , piano, string ensemble, backing vocals, and Roger Powell, keyboards.

1978, Yes appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1979, Led Zeppelin scored their eighth UK number one album when In Through The Out Door went to the top of the charts for two weeks.

1979, Dire Straits performed at The Orpheum, Boston, Massachusetts.

1981, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band appeared at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois.

1983, The Grateful Dead played at Red Rocks Amphitheatre at Morrison, Colorado.

1984, Stevie Wonder had his first UK chart topper with “I Just Called To Say I Love You.” The song was taken from the film Lady In Red. This was was 18 years after Wonder’s chart debut in 1966. The song stayed at number one for six weeks.

1990, Jon Bon Jovi went to number one on the US singles chart with “Blaze Of Glory,” a top two song in the UK. The track appeared in the motion picture Young Guns II, for which it was originally recorded.

1993, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love appeared on stage together at a show in Hollywood. They performed a song they wrote together “Penny Royal Tea.”

1997, 29 years after the band first formed, Led Zeppelin release”d Whole Lotta Love,” their first ever single in the UK. The track recorded in 1969, and featured on the bands second album was issued to promote their re-issued back catalogue.

1997, Derek Taylor, the publicist for The Beatles, died aged 67. Taylor had been responsible for many of the legends surrounding their career and had also worked with The Beach Boys and The Byrds. In 1967 he helped organize the Monterrey Pop Festival together with Lou Adler and John Philips. He helped launch the Beatles Anthology trilogy in the 90’s.

2003, David Bowie performed the first interactive concert when his performance was beamed live into 21 cinemas from Warsaw to Edinburgh. Members of the audience talked to Bowie via microphones linked to ISDN lines and he took requests for songs from fans.

2005, A charity album featuring some of the biggest bands in the UK was thought to be the fastest ever produced. Coldplay, Radiohead, Kaiser Chiefs, Antony and the Johnsons, The Magic Numbers, The Coral, Bloc Party and Gorillaz were among those who recorded tracks for Help: A Day in the Life. The whole 22-track album was made available for download from the War Child website the following day.

2007, A commemorative plaque dedicated to Don Arden and the Small Faces was unveiled at 52–55 Carnaby Street, London, Arden’s former offices. Arden achieved notoriety in Britain for his aggressive, sometimes illegal business tactics and looked after the career’s of Small Faces, The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Black Sabbath. He was the father of Sharon Osbourne.

2015, Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez died aged 80. He recorded with many artists including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd “Matador” Daley. He was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace in July 2007, for services to music. In October 2012, he was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican music

Born on September 8: Jimmie Rodgers (1897); Peter Sellers (1925); Patsy Cline (1932); Brian Cole, bass, vocals, The Association (1942); Kelly Groucutt,  Electric Light Orchestra (1945); Ron “Pigpen” Mckernan, Grateful Dead (1945); Benjamin Orr, The Cars (1955); Michael Lardie, keyboards Great White, Night Ranger (1958); David Steele, Fine Young Cannibals (1960); Jay Ziskrout, drummer Bad Religion (1962);  Neko Case,  singer-songwriter, guitarist The New Pornographers (1970); Alicia Moore, aka Pink, (1979);  Cameron Jibril Thomaz, aka Wiz Khalifa, American rapper, singer-songwriter (1987)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Pay Me My Money Down” by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

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Originally posted September 2012

Not the Seeger Sessions Band, who Bruce fronted for his recording and subsequent tour, but a more recent version backed by The E Street Band from the “Wrecking Ball” tour. One of the many highlights of last night’s show shined a bright light on The E Street Band’s expanded horn section featuring Clarence Clemons’ nephew (and new Springsteen foil) Jake Clemons. While this song was originally a Negro slave song, it was made famous by The Weavers, of whom Pete Seeger was a member. It was later popularized by The Kingston Trio. It is a perfect song for Springsteen to include in his show since it fits in to the message of his latest album, but gives fans a break from some of the heavy handed “Wrecking Ball” tracks on display. Here, the E Streeters introduce a little New Orleans flair to their version.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Working On The Highway” by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

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Originally posted September 2012.

I just returned from my first E Street Band show in well over 15 years and the first Bruce Springsteen show in six. The last time I saw Springsteen was with the Seeger Sessions Band in 2006, and it was one of the best Bruce concerts I’ve ever seen. With a show tonight that included such nuggets as “Because The Night,” “Pay Me My Money Down,” “The E Street Shuffle,” “The Ties That Bind,” “Rosalita,” “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” “No Surrender” and this song, plus the requisite concert staples of “Badlands,” “Born To Run,” “Dancing In The Dark,” “Promised Land,” Darkness On The Edge Of Town,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Thunder Road” and more, it made it easy to forgive The Boss for making us endure a clutch of songs from his relatively lame “Wrecking Ball” collection. Add special guests Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello and you’ve got one heck of a show. Such is the stuff of Bruce concerts 2012…and he rocked out the mighty Wrigley Field 110% for over three hours at a clip.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Little Latin Lupe Lu” by The Righteous Brothers

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Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were best known for their smooth blue-eyed soulful sounds as The Righteous Brothers performing heartfelt ballads. But they could rock out too as evidenced by this Bill Medley original that was not only a hit for them (#47/1963) but also The Kingsmen (#49/1964) and Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (#17/1966). It was also a regional hit for the Minneapolis garage group The Chancellors in 1964, who for my money had the best version of all. (http://youtu.be/zK57Dz4KsK0). And nothing could top a sweaty Bruce Springsteen fronting the E Street Band on the 1977 “Darkness” tour encoring with this song. (http://youtu.be/bmDqLjwrmZ8)

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Empty Lives” by Graham Parker

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Empty Lives” by Graham Parker

He was never a punk rocker and was already around too long to be part of the “New Wave,” but marketing is marketing and that’s how much of the world came to discover Graham Parker.

By the time of Squeezing Out Sparks, his 1979 breakthrough album, Parker had already been recording with his trusted band The Rumour featuring Martin Belmont, Brinsley Schwarz, Andrew Bodnar, Bob Andrews and Steve Goulding for several years, and had classic albums like Howlin’ Wind (1976), Heat Treatment (1976) and Stick To Me (1977) under his belt.

But like fellow journeymen Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Elvis Costello, the music machine had to put them somewhere, so new wave, punk rockers they became. Sparks was Parker’s most consistent album and it benefitted by the promotion that accompanied a label change in America from Mercury to Clive Davis’ Arista imprint.

By the recording of Parker’s second album for Arista, The Up Escalator from 1980, Bob Andrews was out of the band and members of the E Street Band (including Bruce Springsteen) participated in the recording sessions which were helmed by producer Jimmy Iovine. Escalator would also be the first album credited to just Graham Parker. The record was his highest charting album, but was not as well received as his previous release.

Here’s a live version of the album’s signature track from the now-defunct TV show Fridays. Throughout the 1980s and to the present, numerous albums on numerous record labels including Elektra, RCA, Atlantic, Capitol, Razor & Tie and Chicago’s own Bloodshot Records (where he’s recorded his last several albums) have been met with declining sales, but no decline in quality of performance and songwriting.

In fact, Parker’s releases over the last ten years have been his best yet.